A Rebel Machine is a show-stopper at every car event because they are flashy and rare muscle cars from the little car company that lived in the shadow of the Big Three throughout its entire existence.
American Motors was an innovative company that found creative ways to run with the big dogs and the Rebel Machine was a primary example of their creativity.
They took a utilitarian sedan, got rid of the back doors, put serious heat under the air scooped hood, and gave it a striking red-white-and-blue paint job.
The only way you could miss an early production Machine on the street in 1970 was a state of unconsciousness.
Eventually AMC offered less flashy paint schemes for the ’70 Machine, but the original red-white-and-blue cars will always be their signature look in the eyes of car guys.
The years have not been kind to survivor Machines because these low production muscle cars have fallen victim to cocky but incompetent stunt drivers and time over the past 44 years.
A Rebel Machine is a rock star at any show so we were happy when we spotted this beauty at a summer show.
The current owner is Tracy Larsen and she owns her Machine for the best of sentimental reasons: it was her late father’s car.
Unfortunately he was killed in 2008 and the car became part of his legacy for his family, with his wishes that it stay in the family.
Tracy became the proud owner of her father’s Machine and the car is a fond reminder of her dad because the car was one of his favorites. Her father had many AMC products on the family farm so Tracy was a second generation AMC girl through her dad’s collection.
The car has a 390 AMC power-plant under the hood and originally sported a four speed manual transmission. The Machine was made for the street and had a heavy duty suspension, complete with station wagon springs in the rear.
The result was a car with a slightly elevated rear end reminiscent of the NASCAR track look of the time and it looked very cool on this street Machine.
The only serious modification to the car was the addition of an after-market six-speed manual transmission and Tracy said her husband had “lots of fun putting it into the car”.
In fact her husband does all of the mechanical work on the car and it runs like the day it left the showroom.
Tracy’s Machine is not a garage refugee or trailer queen under her watch. She uses it as a commuter car during the summer months so she enjoys the trip to work more than every other driver on the road.
Weekends are reserved for casual driving and the memories of her father Tracy finds whenever she gets behind the wheel of one of her dad’s favorite cars.
Tracy was happy to carry out her father’s wishes to keep the Machine in the family and the bonus is the sheer enjoyment the car provides to her as a second generation AMC fan.
Jim Sutherland
